Liberal defence critic says she was blocked from visiting bases

Liberal defence critic Joyce Murray is accusing the government of blocking her efforts to visit Canadian Forces bases across the country.

Murray said the problem started in late 2013 and early this year when she asked for permission to visit CFB Trenton, CFB Esquimalt and CFB Comox. She said she tried initially to contact the bases directly and was told to go through then-defence minister Rob Nicholson’s office — but she never received a reply to her requests.

She said she decided to try again in April and asked to visit CFB Edmonton in August.

Despite repeated messages to both the base and Nicholson’s office, she said she only received a reply in July — when Nicholson’s staff told her verbally the visit was “not going to happen, (there’s) policy against it.”

A few months later she tried again, sending a letter to Nicholson — dated October 10 and obtained by iPolitics — in which she laid out her case for access and addressed the refusal she had been given earlier.

She says she was told by the vice-chief of defence there is a longstanding policy that MPs can visit bases in their own ridings but that access to bases across Canada is not given unless the visit is related to a parliamentary committee or government work.

In that letter, Murray requested permission to visit CFB Esquimalt, CFB Shilo, CFB Comox, CFB Edmonton, CFB Moose Jaw, CFB Trenton, CFB Winnipeg, CFB Valcartier and CFB Halifax between January and April 2015 to “gain a sense of appreciation for the fine work carried out by the men and women who serve” and said it was part of her parliamentary work as defence critic. Again — silence.

“I was shocked, being blocked this way as the critic,” she said. “This is part of the critic’s job, to meet with stakeholders on the portfolio firsthand.”

Murray said she never received a reply from Nicholson before he was shuffled to the Foreign Affairs portfolio in February. She said she intends to submit a new request to visit the bases to current Defence Minister Jason Kenney.

A request for an explanation of the decision to block Murray’s requests was sent to the Department of National Defence and eventually escalated to Kenney’s office.

“Members of Parliament from all parties routinely visit bases outside their home riding whether it’s with parliamentary committees, to attend an important event or to otherwise participate in government work,” said Kenney’s press secretary Lauren Armstrong in an email. “If any member has a base within their riding, a visit can certainly be arranged.”

An additional query seeking to clarify exactly who has the final say over determining access to bases went unanswered.

It’s not the first time the Conservative government has been accused of barring opposition MPs from visiting Canadian Forces bases.

Nicholson’s press secretary Johanna Quinney was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying “members of Parliament are not permitted to visit bases unless they are the responsible MP for the base they are requesting to visit.”

Quinney did not respond to a request for comment about why Nicholson’s office did not reply to Murray’s request.

Just this week, Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole tweeted a photo that would appear to contradict the government’s position that MPs are only allowed on bases in their own ridings.

7 comments on “Liberal defence critic says she was blocked from visiting bases”

The Harper Conservatives continue their tactic of refusing to allow Canadians and their democratic representatives to obtain information that illustrates just how badly and how partisan, the military is being managed. It raises suspicions about just what the government has in mind in Iraq and Syria.

It would be interesting to see what the policy regarding MP base access was like prior to the assumption of the CPC to government. Somehow I suspect it may have been different, and the idea that an official party known critic would not have access as an obvious element of Parliamentary duties is clearly idiotic. This is the action of a government built on secrecy, not one built on accountability. I always said the clean cut Conservative government Harper was selling in 2005 was a lie and an illusion, yet again we see further evidence of just how true that is.

The only reason the Liberal critic wants to visit a military base is to pick a fight with the Conservatives. Keep those critics from antagonizing the Government. The Liberals kept the military broke and nearly disabled with shoddy equipment for 13 years now they want to disrupt a well run organization.